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“She’s looking after you? Really? Oh God, telling me that was a mistake.” Matt laughed loud enough for the other players in line next to them to glance over. They were at one end of the rink, waiting their turn on the speed course that one of the assistant coaches had set up. Unfortunately, the acoustics in the arena were ridiculously good and players quickly got bored waiting.

“What’s so funny?” Fox asked as he skated over.

Matt grinned broadly. It didn’t matter how many warning looks Dax gave his friend. Not even a hail of meteorites could have stopped him from saying his next words. “Our sweet little rascal here has caused too much chaos over the past few months, so management is rewarding him with Lucy as a babysitter to keep him on the straight and narrow.”

For a few seconds, Fox stared at him in disbelief. Then he grinned so wide that two fists could have fit in his mouth. Dax knew because he was considering sinking his into the captain’s face.

“She’s my personal image consultant,” he growled…but who was he kidding? It was merely a fancy word for babysitter.

Fox seemed to realize this because he was laughing loudly now. “Fuck, poor Lucy. It doesn’t seem fair that she should have to pay for your sins.”

He stared at Fox in disbelief. Oh please, Lucy was much better equipped, not to mention more dangerous than he could ever be! She could bring entire nations to their knees with one angry look. Although, at the moment, it was her shocked and confused expression that was haunting Dax’s mind.

Shit, the way she looked at him when she found out Jack was his brother…like he’d just announced he was actually a woman.

Dax knew she was right to be shocked. It was a miracle that no one had found out that he and Jack were brothers. But they had gone to different schools, had never invited people to their house—for good reason—and had always kept to themselves. Jack also had his father’s last name. Even back then, hardly anyone knew that Dax even had siblings. And when Jack became famous, he claimed in his first TV interview that he was an only child. Probably because he wanted to put his past behind him. Dax didn’t enter the NHL until five years later—he couldn’t leave home until Anna was squared safely away at college—and hadn’t felt the need to correct him then. Ultimately their mother died, and their fathers didn’t want anything to do with them, anyway…and suddenly there was no one but themselves and Anna who might have spilled the unintentional secret.

And now Lucy.

His gaze automatically shifted to the right, into the stands where the PR consultant was sitting in the bottom row with a blanket over her legs and a laptop on her lap. In his opinion, she took her job of not losing sight of him a little too seriously, but hey, if she wanted to freeze her ass off that was her choice.

You think I’m a bad person .

Man, she had said a lot of nonsense, and he didn’t like it. She had been too surprised that he respected her.

Could it be that he’d gone a bit overboard when he was teasing her over the last few months…and Lucy was more vulnerable than he’d thought?

No. No way. Or…was she really?

He shook his head, annoyed by his thoughts. No. Ridiculous. She was an invincible rock, and she couldn’t care less about him. She wouldn’t let him or his stupid remarks influence her.

“She’ll survive the next few weeks,” he replied dryly. “You should be worried about me. I’m officially forbidden from picking up women.”

Matt grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “A little celibacy never hurt anyone. Maybe then you’ll think about the important things in life again.”

“Like how to hurt you when you say things like that?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” Leon interrupted, turning around from his spot in line in front of them. “About Jack? Because Christ, that guy is killing me.” He nodded over his shoulder toward the course.

“No, we’re talking about Lucy,” Fox clarified and then paused to peer past Leon at the ice. “Shit, West is fast,” he muttered, impressed.

Dax turned his head just in time to see Jack blowing by the obstacles as if they weren’t there.

“Hey, he’s got the same footwork as you, Temple,” Leon said, watching Jack’s feet, which, like the puck he was pushing in front of him, were black streaks on the ice. “Must have copied you.”

Dax gritted his teeth. It was the other way around. He copied his brother’s footwork. When they were kids, Jack had shown him how to push the blades of the skates outward in order to be able to brake harder and take turns more sharply. Jack had taught him how to protect the puck from the opponent with his feet. Jack had corrected his posture, stolen his first hockey stick for him, and taught him how to use his elbows to move faster across the ice. Jack had shown him pretty much everything he knew about hockey. His brother was only three years older but had been a little genius on the ice by the age of ten. He was the reason Dax had gotten this far in the first place.

And Dax hated it.

He hated that he owed him so much when all he wanted to do was be angry with him. But the ice had been Jack’s refuge first, and then he’d invited Dax to share it with him.

“Fuck, with him, we actually have a chance at the Cup this year,” Matt said happily.

“Yep,” Fox agreed.

“Yeah, yeah. So, what’s with Lucy?” Leon asked, raising his eyebrows.

Matt’s grin was so wide it reflected off the ice. “Oh, yeah. Lucy is now officially Dax’s image consultant. She’s making sure he doesn’t pull any stunts that end up in the press. Feel free to tell everyone. Every member of the Hawks deserves a little more joy in their lives.”

Dax had expected his teammate to laugh loudly, but Leon was relatively reserved.

“God, she hates you so much,” Leon said gleefully and shook his head. “She’ll make your life hell.”

Dax clenched his jaw in dissatisfaction. “Hmph. It won’t be that bad. Hate isn’t the word for it.”

“No, no,” Matt said, “he’s right. Whenever I go out for drinks with her, sooner or later, she mentions what a terrible person you are. Man, it’s going to be a fun few weeks.”

“You go out for drinks with Lucy?” Leon asked, shocked.

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s what I’ve been asking him,” Dax remarked disgruntled. The two got along far too well for his liking. Wasn’t it enough that Lucy irritated him? Did she have to steal his best friend as well?

Matt shrugged. “I like her. She’s funny. By the way, her sister Maddie is too. And hey, you can’t be upset about it.” He pointed his index finger at Dax. “It’s your fault I first had to ask her out for a drink last year. On your birthday. You and your asshole self.”

“What?” He didn’t understand Matt’s insinuation. Or his asshole self didn’t want to understand.

“Matt, be nice,” Fox said curtly, giving him a warning look. “It’s obvious Dax doesn’t need you to make him feel like shit for the next few weeks.”

“Yes, but I’d like to help him on his way,” he replied cheerfully. “That’s just the selfless kind of man I am.”

“Oh God,” Leon sighed dreamily, “I’m so damn jealous. What I wouldn’t give for Lucy to look after me for just one night.”

“Who is Lucy?” a new voice inquired.

Dax’s shoulders stiffened as he looked up. Jack had apparently finished the course.

“Hey, West, that was one hell of an impressive performance,” Fox said diplomatically. Captain Fox didn’t care which teammate hated who. A team was a team.

Terrible attitude.

“Thank you,” West replied happily. “And Lucy…?”

“Over there,” Leon explained, flicking his hand toward the stands.

Jack followed the gesture with his eyes and nodded slowly. “Ah, yes, Dax’s girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Matt and Fox echoed at the same time, their expressions incredulous.

“Lucy hates Dax,” Leon kindly informed the new arrival. “And the feeling is mutual.”

Jack raised his eyebrows, looking genuinely surprised. “What? Wait a minute.” Frowning he looked at Lucy in the stands and then back at Dax. “You two aren’t together?”

The teammates couldn’t have been more shocked if Jack had said he’d always hated ice hockey.

“Shit, no,” Matt said, confused, before Dax could answer. “Why would you think that?”

Jack scratched the back of his neck, his confused gaze still on Dax’s face. “Well, it seemed like…at least, yesterday it looked like…” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Forget it.”

Nobody forgot it.

“Yesterday?” Matt remarked sharply and glanced at Dax questioningly. “What happened yesterday?”

“Nothing,” Dax replied tonelessly, glaring at Jack. “I have no idea what West is talking about.”

“Sorry, I mistook her for someone else,” Jack chimed in, glancing back at the stands. “It doesn’t matter. So…Lucy. She’s cute. Is she single by chance?”

Dax’s stomach contracted. The reaction was as surprising as it was unwelcome because it made absolutely no sense. Jack could express interest wherever he damn well pleased.

“Ah, forget it,” Leon said, waving dismissively. “She doesn’t date players. That’s her only rule and she takes it seriously.”

“Really?” he drawled, his gaze darting to Dax. “Interesting.”

Dax furrowed his brow. He didn’t like the way Jack responded as if he knew more than anyone else. Anyway, he didn’t find anything about Lucy interesting.

“Well, I’m not really on the roster yet,” Jack replied innocently. “I’m only officially part of the team after the first game, right? And I don’t date during the season, so next week is my only chance to get some action…”

Leon grinned widely. “Go ahead and try. You wouldn’t be the first person she turned down.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” he replied vaguely—and abruptly skated toward the door embedded in the boards.

Dax followed before his legs realized what they were doing. All he knew was that Jack couldn’t come in here and infiltrate every aspect of his life. The team, his family…Lucy.

“Leave her alone,” he said darkly, reaching for Jack’s arm.

His brother turned, eyebrows raised. “Ah, so she is your girlfriend after all,” he concluded in a lowered voice.

“Bullshit.” He laughed dryly. The idea was ridiculous. “Didn’t you hear Leon? We hate each other.”

Even if hate wasn’t the word that he associated with her face, there was a profound unease that assaulted his body whenever she put on her sweet, mocking smile. Not hate, but maybe…caution?

Jack looked at him sympathetically and then said in a lowered voice, “You can tell me whatever you want, Dax, but you don’t look at women you hate the way you looked at Lucy yesterday.”

“What?” he asked, blinking in confusion. “I looked at her like I look at any PR consultant who gets on my nerves.”

“So, you want to jump into bed with all your PR consultants?” Jack inquired softly. “That’s a little excessive, don’t you think? Even by your standards.”

That statement was so surprising and direct that Dax flinched. Blinking, he opened his mouth. He didn’t want to…not with Lucy…that was… What the hell?

“I don’t know what drugs you’re taking, Jack, but you have no idea what you’re talking about,” he growled.

“Ah, okay. My mistake,” he said lightly before tilting his head. “Then why exactly can’t I ask her if she wants to go out with me?”

“She doesn’t deserve to be hit on by a sleazy guy.”

“Um, let’s let her decide for herself.”

“No,” he replied curtly. “Because it doesn’t matter whether I want to sleep with her or not.” And he definitely didn’t! “She’s still a part of my life right now, so don’t. I’d like to maintain some distance between our worlds. You’re plenty close enough, already.”

Yes, that was what was bothering him.

“You know, Daxxy,” Jack murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder, “that sounds like a friendly enough request to me, but yesterday you made it crystal clear you didn’t want to be my brother or my friend, so…it’s just tough luck.”

The next moment, he pulled open the boards door and stepped off the ice. A knot formed in Dax’s stomach and his fingers twitched. Jack shouldn’t be able to provoke him like that. Especially not with Lucy.

In general, worrying was completely unnecessary. There was no way Lucy would date Jack. She didn’t date players. She probably had the words professionalism and success tattooed on her wrist so she wouldn’t forget. No one would take her seriously if she slept with someone on the team and she would never risk that.

And yet his gaze darted to her, scanning her body as if he might find something there he hadn’t noticed before.

She sat in the front row, staring intently at her screen. Her black, buttoned-up blouse contrasted with her strikingly fair skin. Her dark red hair, as always, was combed back from her face and gathered in a hair tie. The wool blanket over her legs hid the tight pencil skirt that she wore 100% of the time. Her feet, however, stuck out from underneath.

Yes, those were her tiny feet, which were in high heels every day. Today she wore ridiculous black ones with straps that wrapped around her bare ankles. They were too sexy for a business suit. She had to be cold in here, right? After all, she was sitting in a damn ice rink! However, she didn’t seem to care.

Sometimes it seemed to Dax like her shoes were the only item of clothing she used as a personal touch to her otherwise boring outfits, shoes whose straps clung to her skin like foreign fingers. Fuck, she probably even kept them on in bed.

Instantly, an image of Lucy on white sheets flashed through his mind. Naked except for the black stilettos.

Sex. Lucy .

The two words in his head were enough to trigger a series of images, each dirtier than the last.

Lucy grasping the sheets as he ran his tongue down her neck.

Lucy, her eyes glazing over as he placed her leg over his shoulder and kissed up her thigh with only one goal in mind.

Lucy, no longer talking back because she was too busy moaning his name while he…

He winced and abruptly tore his gaze from her.

He was close to getting hard. In the middle of the ice. Dozens of hockey players around him. This couldn’t be fucking happening! He rubbed his face hard and narrowed his eyes.

Damn Jack and his idiotic words!

Shit, he couldn’t be right, could he? He didn’t want Lucy. Not in that way!

He abruptly turned his back to the two of them.

It was enough. He wasn’t a little boy anymore, even though Jack made him feel like one. He could distinguish right from wrong. And wanting to do things to Lucy James other than gagging her and locking her in a dark closet was definitely wrong!